Nutrition Question: I am a female vegetarian and work out or run 4-5 times/week. How would I determine how many grams of protein I should have per day?
The average person needs 0.86 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (0.86g/kg/day). Your needs will depend on how long your workouts are as an ultra-endurance athlete who engages in continuous activity for several hours or consecutive days will have increased protein needs at 1.2 – 1.4 g/kg/day. Also, the recommended protein intake for vegetarian endurance athletes is increased by 10 percent.
So let’s say you aren’t running or working out for several hours, maybe just an hour or hour and a half. Aim for about 1g of protein per kilogram of body weight. Let’s say you weight 65kg, that would be 65g of protein. You can get this from food sources alone, protein supplements are not necessary. See this resource from Dietitians of Canada – Eating Well for Vegetarian Athletes.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Thanks for the awesome reply on my vegetarian- protein question!